The Language of Names: What We Call Ourselves and Why It Matters

by Justin Kaplan, Anne Bernays

As delightful and playful as it is profound and serious, The Language of Names is an absolute original -- a fascinating book that reveals us to ourselves, that demonstrates the endless variety of ways in which names shape our daily lives. Drawing on social and literary history, psychology and anthropology, anecdotes, and life stories, biographer Justin Kaplan and novelist Anne Bernays have written a fascinating account of names and naming in contemporary society that touches on class structure, ethnic and religious practices, manners, and everyday life.
Graceful, eloquent, and richly informed, The Language of Names explores and illuminates our favorite subject -- ourselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, History, Linguistics, Psychology, Reference, Essays

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Justin Daniel "Joe" Kaplan was an American writer and editor. The general editor of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, he was best known as a biographer, particularly of Samuel Clemens, Lincoln Steffens, and Walt Whitman.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this book were a student paper, I would give the authors this feedback:
1. Where is your thesis?
2. For every sentence of example, write at least two sentences of analysis.
This book was primarily a series of loosely related anecdotes organized thematically. There were so many examples given that the authors never really developed their ideas very much. I can't even say what the point of the book was.
Early on they lost a lot of credibility with me by quoting Washington Irving's biography of Christopher Columbus, which was largely fictionalized. They also quoted a lot of novels when I think they would have been better off quoting historical sources.
The anti-Americanism and anti-Mormonism in the first couple of chapters was palpable and unpalatable, not to mention irrelevant.
The worst part of the book was the chapter on maiden names. There was no historical information or interesting analysis here, just a diatribe against women who take their husbands' last names when they marry. I was incensed at the assertion that, just because I took my husband's last name, I have no identity or opinions of my own. Anyone who actually knows me would have to be mental to suggest such a thing. People like these authors are the reason that "feminist" is a dirty word in some circles, and spouts the typical feminist crap: women can choose whatever that want to, as long as they choose what I want them to choose. Honestly, I only kept reading after that chapter so I could give a proper review.
There were some interesting factoids in this book and it's a pretty quick read. That's the best thing I can say about it.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

See, now, this could have been a pretty good book. It had a lot of interesting chapters, even if they tended to skim the surface of what initially promised to be a rather fascinating subject. But it's a BIG subject, and the book is relatively short, so you know...one shouldn't expect too much. It's interesting to read about names and social structures...and names and their mystical power...character names in literature. All that was cool, and I was enjoying it. But then, dear me, they got to the chapter on (whisper it) MAIDEN names.

Holy crap, what is up with Anne Bernays? Apparently, if you give up your maiden name and take your husband's name YOU HAVE TOTALLY GIVEN IT TO THE MAN, you silly oppressed boot-licker, you. Um, is it just me? Or did it escape Darling Anne's notice that a maiden name is actually the name of the woman's FATHER? And that there isn't a whole lot of difference (oppression-wise) between carrying your daddy's name or your sweetie's name? Apparently, for Anne, the very notion of taking Justin's last name was an agonizing blow to her WHOLE IDENTITY(which must be very loosely anchored indeed).

WhatEVER. The rest of the book was not insanely ideological. I guess she needed to blow off steam somewhere. Maybe Justin is a big pain in the neck and never washes the dishes and drops his dirty underwear on the floor.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, interesting conversation piece. I liked how the book brought different elements into different chapters. I thought it was a bit heavily focused on ethnicity like Jewish versus African American. Also, I was REALLY frustrated in the chapter about maiden names. Sometimes it was just too pretentious to actually deal with. The authors (ESPECIALLY Anne Bernays) used themselves in a lot of stories but made it third person. It was weird and off putting. Despite that, I felt like I learned a very things and that was cool.

What made me pick this book up? I've always known what I wanted to name a baby and I thought this would have interesting insights into how people viewed their names. I felt like it was kind of off base and that's not actually what the book was about.

What was the best part of the book? It was really well researched and I did learn a few things.

What was the part I liked least? They basically said that people named Jennifer felt like they had to stick out because their names were so generic. Annoyed! Also, the maiden name section.

Favorite character: NA

Least favorite character: NA

Rereadable: No

Rating: 2

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and entertaining, but because it was originally published in 1997, it occasionally seems outdated in unusual, hard-to-explain ways. I think the best way to describe it is that the sociological perspective is outdated; the information, however, is still valid.

[Linda Spear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a readaloud for us. Parts of it were very entertaining, others not so much. The last chapter was just awful and seemed misplaced. That said, I did laugh out loud all through some chapters.

[Regine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant. Mostly obvious, but with different information about naming.

[Bookwyrmgyrl]

If you like to know where words come from and what names mean, then you will probably like this book. It is filled with lots of etymology and fun little factoids. The focus is on names in the United States.

[Tishia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It could've been better. Neverthless, it was good enough that I have it sitting on my bookshelf and I read it again now and then. It is a bit dry, but if you read it as if it's a college thesis, you shouldl be fine.

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really think that a book on language and the importance of names should NOT have so many typos.

[emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is all over the place. That being said a great factoid for the origin of names and theory around naming in general.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A random collection of how people/places got their names. I was hoping for a more meaty exploration of the sociolinguistics involved in naming.

[SmarterLilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. A great resource for those of us into onomastics.

[Jonathan]

None

[Katrinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times interesting, at times tedious, with some questionable notions about the power of names that would make a fabulous book for discussion.